risk-averse

[risk-uh-vurs]

adverb

1. reluctant to take risks; tending to avoid risks as much as possible.

   risk-averse entrepreneurs.

2. of or noting a person who invests in stocks, bonds, etc., with lower risks and generally lower rates of return so as to minimize the possibility of financial loss.

   risk-averse investors who stick with government bonds.

Word History and Origins

Origin of risk-averse¹

First recorded in 1960–65; risk ( def. ) + averse ( def. )

Example Sentences

A larger budget for a comedy could feel like too much of a gamble for risk-averse studios, which would then need to rely on a bigger theatrical response and grosses from countries where comedic sensibilities are different.

From Los Angeles Times

But what are her chances of making the UK a nation of investors, rather than risk-averse savers?

From BBC

Even its less risk-averse figures—its Bernie Sanderses and Zohrans Mamdani—often frame their proposals as defenses of working- and middle-class Americans besieged by the cost of living in a rigged economy.

From Slate

Neither did the stifling, risk-averse, eye-bleeding stuff we witnessed in the Test series.

From BBC

In a society where many leaders are risk-averse, conservative and conflict-shy by nature, the temptation to “just drop the language” is strong.

From Salon